Film cartridges, films and cameras adapted for use therewith

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are film cartridges having improved digital code patterns, films having improved digital signal means, and cameras devices adapted for use with the film cartridges or the films. The improved code patterns include bits with different weights and a bit which is made conductive with at least one of the bits with the different weights. 
     One of the cameras devices is provided with a reading device on a spool so that the reading device can continuously read the signal means at a front tip of a leader portion of the film throughout the duration in which the film is wound around the spool. Another camera device is adapted to read the code patterns on the film cartridge upon insertion of the film cartridge into a cartridge chamber. Various camera circuits are proposed, in one of which decimal or fractional APEX values of read film speeds are converted to outputs with weights of 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 for digital calculation and in another of which film speeds divided by 1/3 Ev steps are automatically set by being grouped into one of high, middle and low film speed ranges.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 385,311 filed June 4,1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,283.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to film cartridges and films which havedigital code patterns representing information of the films and tocameras which are adapted for use with such film cartridges or films.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

Various film cartridges and films of the above described type andcameras adapted for use therewith are known by, for example, U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,024,557 and 4,200,371 and RESEARCH DISCLOSURE April 1980 Number192 particularly on page 142.

The prior art film cartridges, films and cameras are advantageous inthat it is made possible to automatically read out and set theinformation on the film cartridges or on the films. However, there arethe following problems which are left unsolved.

(a) With prior art cameras in which sensing or detecting contacts arefixedly provided in a cartridge chamber, insertion of a film cartridgeinto the chamber is possible disturbed by the contacts. With other typeprior art cameras in which sensing or detecting contacts project into acartridge chamber in association with closure of a camera back coveragainst a spring bias, the back cover must be opened again troubling thecamera user where a film cartridge containing a film whose film speed isnot consistent with that intended by the camera user is inserted intothe chamber causing the camera to indicate such unintended film speed.

(b) With prior art film cartridges having a digital code patternrepresenting film information such as film speed, the code pattern isdesigned only by numbering film speeds low to high by using binarycodes, so that outputs from a reading device must be decoded in cameras.

(c) With prior art films having a digital code pattern with perforatedand non-perforated areas at its leader portion and with prior artcameras which read the patterns at an exposure station, a memory deviceis required which memorizes outputs from a reading device even after theleading portion of the film has passed the exposure station.Additionally, where the reading device is provided on a camera backcover or on a film pressure plate electric connection between thereading device and circuits within a camera body becomes troublesome.

(d) Film speeds are divided by 1/3 EV steps according to the APEX systemwhile it is usual for digital calculations to put weights of 1/2, 1/4and 1/8 on decimal or fractional bits. Thus, decimal APEX values of filmspeeds are not suited for digital calculations to be effected in cameracircuits such as an exposure control circuit.

(e) Furthermore, it is not always necessary but rather useless forarmature cameras to set film speeds by 1/3 EV steps since such armaturecameras are usually designed to control an exposure with a fewpredetermined steps allowing occurrence of little errors.

(f) With prior art film cartridges having digital code patterns shown inFIG. 2, all bits of the code patterns representing film speeds havedifferent weights. More particularly, the patterns include a first bitconductive for all film speeds and second to sixth bits conductive andnonconductive in dependence upon the film speeds and the second to sixthbits have weights of 4, 2, 1, 2/3 and 1/3 respectively. However, thecode pattern representing ASA or ISO 25 is designed such that only thefirst bit is conductive. This makes it necessary to provide two contactsfor detecting the condition of the first bit and therefore the filmcartridge having the code pattern of ASA or ISO 25 cannot bediscriminated from an ordinary film cartridge having no such codepatterns in case space inside a camera body does not allow to arrangetwo contacts for the first bit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a general object of the present invention to provide filmcartridges, films and cameras adapted therefor, which can solve one ormore of the above problems of the prior art involving the representationof digitally coded information.

The above and other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of thepresent invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art film cartridge;

FIG. 2 shows codes that have been proposed for the cartridge shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cartridge chamber of acamera according to the present invention that is adapted to receive thecartridge shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective illustration of a mechanism of thecamera that adjusts the aperture for a light measuring element inaccordance with a read film speed;

FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are plan schematic illustrations of anindicating means corresponding to the mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a camera circuit according to the presentinvention which is adapted to read out the codes of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 shows an improvement of codes according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of another camera circuit according to the presentinvention which is adapted to read the codes of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9(a) shows another improvement of codes according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 9(b) and 9(c), respectively, show an additional improvement of acode according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a camera circuit adapted to read out the codesof FIG. 9(a);

FIG. 11 shows yet another improvement of codes according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a camera circuit according to the presentinvention which is adapted to read the codes of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram of another camera circuit according to the presentinvention which is adapted to read the codes of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a diagram of another camera circuit according to the presentinvention which is adapted to read the codes of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a leading portion of a film according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a spool of a camera according to thepresent invention for which the spool is arranged to read the signalholes on the film of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows a horizontal cross section of the spool of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a leading portion of another film according tothe present invention;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a spool of a camera according to thepresent invention for which the spool is arranged to read the depth SNof the cut-out on the film of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a schematic cross sectional illustration showing the mannerhow the depth SN is detected by the spool of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a plan view of a still another film according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary perspective view of a camera structureaccording to the present invention which is adapted to read out thesignal holes and the positioning holes on the film of FIG. 21; and

FIGS. 23 and 24 are respectively cross sectional views of the readingportions of the camera structure of FIG. 22.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The film cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is a type that has been proposed, andis provided with code areas 1 through 6, which bear in combination adigitally coded signal representative of film sensitivity. Of the codeareas 1 through 6, the areas 1 and 4 are made electrically conductive inthe embodiment shown.

FIG. 2 shows the correspondence between code patterns and filmsensitivity values in ASA units as proposed with reference to thestructure shown in FIG. 1. In each pattern, the hatched portions showconductive portions or strips and the blank portions show non-conductiveportions or strips. Accordingly, if it is designed that the conductiveportion represents a digital signal "1", the code patterns in FIG. 2will correspond to digital signals as shown in Table 1.

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        ASA      Sv     4         3   2       6   5                                   ______________________________________                                         25      3      0         0   0       0   0                                    32      31/3   0         0   0       0   1                                    40      32/3   0         0   0       1   0                                    50      4      0         0   1       0   0                                    64      41/3   0         0   1       0   1                                    80      42/3   0         0   1       1   0                                   100      5      0         1   0       0   0                                   125      51/3   0         1   0       0   1                                   160      52/3   0         1   0       1   0                                   200      6      0         1   1       0   0                                   250      61/3   0         1   1       0   1                                   320      62/3   0         1   1       1   0                                   400      7      1         0   0       0   0                                   500      71/3   1         0   0       0   1                                   640      72/3   1         0   0       1   0                                   800      8      1         0   1       0   0                                   1000     81/3   1         0   1       0   1                                   1250     82/3   1         0   1       1   0                                   1600     9      1         1   0       0   0                                   2000     91/3   1         1   0       0   1                                   2500     92/3   1         1   0       1   0                                   3200     10     1         1   1       0   0                                   ______________________________________                                    

As will be seen from the Table 1, encoded portion 5 has a weightcorresponding to 1/3 EV and encoded portion 6 has a weight correspondingto 2/3 EV when the weights are measured in terms of EV value (exposurevalue) according to the APEX notation. Further, encoded portion 2 has aweight corresponding to 1 EV, encoded portion 3 to 2 EV and encodedportion 4 to 4 EV. The integer portion of speed value SV of the filmsensitivity is obtained by adding 3 EV to the EV value given by theencoded portions 2, 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 shows in perspective view and partly in cross section, a filmsensitivity signal reading portion of a camera according to anembodiment of the present invention. and which is adapted for the filmcartridge shown in FIG. 1. Cartridge chamber 8 is formed on one side ofexposure aperture 7. Contact holder 9 supports a group of electriccontacts S1 through S6 and is provided with a detector member 9a fordetecting whether a film cartridge P is in cartridge chamber 8. Holder 9is rotatable about axis 9b and urged in the counterclockwise directionso that, when no cartridge is in the chamber, detector member 9aprotrudes in the chamber with the set of contacts S1 to S6 retractingrespectively through container apertures 8S1 to 8S6. Lock portion 10locks the camera rear cover and pin 11 restricts the vertical positionof the film relative to exposure aperture 7.

When film cartridge P as shown in FIG. 1 is put into cartridge chamber8, detector member 9a is pushed by the film cartridge against the forceof the spring so that contact holder 9 rotates in the clockwisedirection around axis 9b to allow projection of the set of contacts S1to S6 through container apertures 8S1 to 8S6 into the chamber such thatthe contacts come in contact with en-coded areas 1 to 6, therebyproducing signals from contacts S1 and S4 that are in contact withconductive strips 1 and 4. The process of treating the signals will bedescribed later.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a film sensitivity setting device thatmay be used with the film cartridge mentioned above. Camera rear cover20 is provided with charging (or tensioning) means 22, which iscorotatable with rear cover 22 about pin or shaft 21. Aperture settingmember 23 supports aperture plate 25, which is formed with apertures25a, 25b, 25c, 25d and 25e of different sizes and shapes. Aperture plate25 is disposed in front of light receiving element PD and is movedlaterally with aperture setting member 23 for setting the aperture forthe light measurement in accordance with film sensitivity. Of theapertures of aperture plate 25, aperture 25a consists of a largediameter circular portion and wedged aperture continuous therewith.Aperture 25e is a standard aperture. Restraining lever 24 restrainsaperture setting member 23 and releases its restraint in response to theclosing of rear cover 20. Read-out circuit C processes the signals fromany of contacts S1 to S6 and generates a digital signal commensuratewith the film sensitivity that was read by the contacts. Digital/analogconverter D/A converts the digital signal from circuit C into an analogsignal, that determines the angle of deflection of needle MEa of ammeterME. Thus, when aperture setting member 23 is released from the restraintby restraining lever 24 and moves towards the right, its stepped portion23b scans the position of needle MEa such that the aperture settingmember is stopped at a position dependent on the portion of the stepthat engages needle MEa.

Read-out circuit C generates a signal B when it detects that all thecontacts S1 to S6 are in contact with non-conductive strips. Signal Bforces the output of the D/A converter to switch the analog output A toa value that deflects needle MEa of ammeter ME largely to the outside ofthe locus of stepped portion 23b. Light receiving element PD formeasuring object brightness is supported by holder 30 whose lateralposition is adjustable by manual operation of parts not shown in theFigure.

Next, explanation will be given on the operation of each part. FIG. 3shows the condition just before the closure of the camera rear cover. Atthis time, the signal of the film sensitivity has been read to deflectammeter needle MEa to a position corresponding to the read sensitivity,if any of the strips 1 to 6 on cartridge F is conductive. When camerarear cover 20 is completely closed, restraining lever 24 is pushed byprojecting portion 20a of the rear cover to turn clockwise about pin 24cagainst the force of spring 28. Then aperture setting member 23 whichhas been restrained by hook portion 24a of restraining lever 24, isreleased to slide rightwards under the force of spring 29 until it isstopped with stepped portion 23b of aperture setting member 23 cominginto contact with needle MEa of ammeter ME. Thus, aperture plate 25,which is integral with aperture setting member 23, is at a positiondependent on the amount of the deflection of ammeter needle MEa suchthat any one of apertures 25a, 25b, 25c and 25d is brought intoregistration or alignment with light receiving element PD. Holder 30 ismanually displaceable in the lateral direction shown by the arrow tobring light receiving element PD into alignment with any of apertures25a, 25b, 25c and 25d thereby enabling manual compensation of theexposure.

When rear cover 20 is opened after the entire film has been exposed,charging means 22 turns therewith to the position 22' shown by a phantomline and then move aperture setting member 23 against the force ofspring 29 until hook portion 24a of restraining lever 24 engages detentportion 23a and locks aperture setting member 23.

On the other hand, when none of the strips at the code areas of filmcartridge is conductive, needle MEa of the ammeter ME deflects to theoutside of the locus of the stepped portion 23b of the aperture settingmember. Therefore, when aperture setting member 23 is released from therestraint through its detent portion 23b, aperture setting member 23moves to the right (as viewed in FIG. 3) until the left end of guideslot 23c in aperture setting member 23 comes into contact with theleft-hand pin of two guide pins 27 where aperture plate 25 is positionedsuch that its standard aperture 25e aligns with light receiving elementPD. In this case, if the size of standard aperture 25e is determined tocorrespond to the most popularly used film sensitivity, e.g. ASA or ISO100, the film sensitivity is set to a value that will provideappropriate exposure for most cases when the camera is loaded with afilm cartridge having no film sensitivity code. Additionally, the filmsensitivity setting can be adjusted manually by manually moving holder30 to the right or left.

In the above embodiment, holder 30 is manually operated for twopurposes. One purpose is for the exposure compensation wherein the filmsensitivity setting is changed from the condition where light receivingelement PD is aligned with one of the apertures in accordance with thefilm sensitivity read from the cartridge. This is the case when it isdesired that the amount of an exposure is somewhat changed from a designstandard value that will be automatically determined as a function of ameasured object brightness and set exposure conditions. The otherpurpose is for adjusting the film sensitivity setting to a proper valuefrom the value given by standard aperture 25e by displacing lightreceiving element PD to align it with a proper aperture other than thestandard aperture. This is the case when the camera is loaded with afilm cartridge that has no film sensitivity code and contains a film ofthe sensitivity other than that corresponding to the standard aperture.FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an indication system that indicates a setfilm sensitivity, distingushing the above two cases.

Indication plate 40 shown in FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) is interlockedwith aperture setting member 23 through a mechanism (not shown) suchthat indication plate 40 moves to the left when setting member 23 movesto the right as viewed in FIG. 3. Indication plate 40 is providedthereon with numerals 41 representing film sensitivity valuescorresponding to the apertures to be selected automatically or manually.Indication plate 40 is further provided with indicias 49 correspondingto numerals 41 and numeral 42 representing the film sensitivitycorresponding to standard aperture 25b. Indication plate 40 istransparent except the portion of mask 43 for covering.

FIG. 5(b) shows the condition for the indication when the aperture forthe light measurement is automatically set. Fixed plate 44 is formedwith recess 47 through which in the case of the automatic setting, oneof the indicia registered with the appearing indicia represents anautomatically set film sensitivity. In the embodiment shown, it isindicated that an aperture corresponding to ASA 100 has been set. Indexplate 45 is interlocked with holder 30 through a mechanism not shownsuch that index plate 45 moves to the left when holder 30 moves to theright as viewed in FIG. 4. Index 48 is provided on index plate 45.Holder 30 (see FIG. 3) and index plate 45 are reset to theirpredetermined position by the opening and closing of rear cover 20 (seealso FIG. 3) through a mechanism not shown. Therefore, index 48 on indexplate 45 is normally in registration with recess 47 of fixed plate 44.Fixed indication plate 46 is provided thereon with numerals "2", "1","0", "-1" and "-2", which represent by the unit of the exposure step theamount of exposure compensation. Accordingly, when holder 30 shown inFIG. 4 is moved to the right from the predetermined position, i.e. whenlight receiving element PD is displaced from the normal position to bein alignment with an automatically selected aperture to a position to bein alignment with a smaller aperture for providing an over-exposure,index plate 45 moves to the left to be in alignment with a numeral of apositive value, e.g. +1 to indicate overexposure by one step.

FIG. 5(c) shows the condition of the indication system when no filmsensitivity signal has been detected.

In this case, aperture setting member 23 has traveled to its right endas viewed in FIG. 3, to select standard aperture 25b with indicationplate 40 having moved to its left end so that recess 47 registers withan aperture representing a film sensitivity (e.g. 100 for ASA 100 in theembodiment) corresponding to standard aperture 25b. At this time, whenholder 30 is set at the predetermined position, index 48 on index plate45 is in registration with the numeral 100 for ASA 100.

At the same time, mask 43 covers the numerals for the indication ofcompensated exposure steps since indication plate 40 has moved to itsleft end.

With this condition, if the film loaded has a sensitivity other than ASA100, then the camera operator should displace holder 30 to the leftuntil light receiving element PD comes into alignment with an aperturecorresponding to the sensitivity of the loaded film, whereby index plate45 is moved to the left, and its index 48 is brought into registrationwith the numeral for the film sensitivity corresponding to the selectedaperture.

FIG. 5(c) shows the condition where ASA 200 has been manually selected.

FIG. 6 shows a camera circuit adapted for use with the film cartridgeshaving film data in the form of encoded patterns as shown in FIG. 2 andTable 1. Conductive plate 65 lies in encoded portions 1 to 6 on filmcartridge of FIG. 1. Electrically insulating layer 64 is made of, forexample, painting material and is formed on non-conductive portions ofthe encoded portion. In the case of FIG. 1 structure, the electricallyinsulating layer is removed at encoded portions 1 and 4 to exposeconductive plate 65. In the case of the FIG. 6 structure, theelectrically insulating layer is removed at encoded portions 1, 2, 4 and5. Accordingly, the code in FIG. 1 corresponds to ASA 100 and SV 7, andcode in FIG. 6 corresponds to ASA 1000 and SV 81/3.

Taking the code pattern of FIG. 6, for example, terminals S1 to S6 areprovided to respectively engage encoded portions 1 to 6 and terminal S10is engageable with encoded portion 1. In the FIGURE, terminals S2, S4and S5 are grounded through conductive plate 65 and terminal S1 wherebya digital signal of "10101" is generated from inverters IN4 and IN0.Switch S10 detects whether the film cartridge is provided with the dataof the sensitivity of the film contained therein. If the film cartridgeis provided with the film sensitivity data, the encoded portion 1 isalways conductive with the conductive layer being exposed as is seen inFIG. 2, whereby the output of inverter IN9 is always "High" and the"High" signal is output as a signal representing the existence of filmsensitivity data. If the film cartridge is not provided with any filmsensitivity data, the portion of the cartridge corresponding to encodedportion 1 is covered by the electrically insulating layer and terminal10 is not grounded, whereby the output of inverter IN9 is low to showthat the film cartridge loaded has no film sensitivity data. Thus,switch S10 enables the distinction between the film cartridge bearingthe data of ASA 25 in the form shown in FIG. 16 and the film cartridgebearing no film sensitivity datum.

When the output of inverter IN9 is high and switch SW1 is connected toterminal e, the output of AND circuit AN1 will be high so that thedigital signal generated from inverters IN4 to IN0 in correspondencewith the film sensitivity will be generated through terminals a4 to a0of selector SE1. In the case of the data of FIG. 6, the digital value ofthe signal is "10101". At this time, if switch SW2 is connected withterminal h, indicating section DI1 indicates the film sensitivity as ASA1000 since terminal a6 is "High" and if switch SW2 is connected withterminal g, indicating section DI1, indicates the film sensitivity asDIN31 since terminal a6 is low. To this end, indication device DI1 isarranged to make its ASA indication decoder effective in response to a"High" level at terminal a6 and make its DIN indication decodereffective in response to a "Low" level at terminal a6. Switch SW2 may bearranged to be switched manually from the exterior of the camera, orelse may be set, during the camera assembly, to either connection inaccordance with the country where the camera is to be used.Additionally, when the "High" level signal at the output terminal a5 ofAND circuit AN1 is applied to the input terminal of indication deviceDI1, a mark A is displayed for indicating that film sensitivity has beenautomatically set.

When the camera is loaded with a film cartridge having no filmsensitivity data, the output of inverter IN9 will become "Low" to makethe output terminal a5 of AND circuit AN1 "Low". As a result, a digitalsignal from manual film sensitivity setting device 61 is generatedthrough terminals a4 to a0 of the data selector. Then, indicationdevice, DI1, indicates the film sensitivity commensurate with the signalin ASA units or DIN units in accordance with the condition of switchSW2. At this time, indication device DI1, displays mark M for theindication of manual film sensitivity setting in response to the "Low"level at terminal a5.

When the output of inverter IN9 is "High" with the movable contact ofswitch SW1 being connected with terminal f, the output terminal a5 ofAND circuit AN1 is "Low", so that data selector SE1 generates from itsoutput terminals the data from manual setting device 61 irrespective ofthe fact that the camera has been loaded with a film cartridge with filmsensitivity data.

Accordingly, terminal SW1 has a function of overriding or makingineffective the automatic film sensitivity setting when it is connectedwith terminal f. This function is effective when an exposure is desiredto be made with an intentional film sensitivity setting to a valuehigher than an automatically set one. In this case, as the outputs ofinverters IN9 and IN5 are both made "High", the output of AND circuitAN2 become "High" whereby indication device DI3 displays the character"MEP" for the indication of the film-sensitivity-intensified exposure.As a modification of the indication, it may be indicated how much changeof the film sensitivity has been made for the exposure, by arrangingindication device DI3 to display the difference between the output datathrough inverters IN4 to IN0 and the data from manual setting device 61when the output of AND circuit AN2 is "High". If it is difficult to maketerminals S1 and S10 in contact with encoded portion 1 of the cartridgeshown in FIG. 1 because of the restriction of space, the width ofencoded portion 1 in the direction of the axis of the cartridge may bedoubled in comparison with the width of other encoded portions.

The resistance values of resistors R1 to R5 in FIG. 6 are selected suchthat the resistance of resistor R1 corresponds to SV=4, the resistanceof resistor R2 to SV=2, the resistance of resistor R3 to SV=1, theresistance of resistor R4 to SV=2/3 and the resistance of resistor R5 toSV=1/3. Accordingly, when a digital signal of "10101" (corresponding toASA 1000, SV=81/3) is generated from terminals a4 to a0 of data selectorSe1, inverter IN14 to IN10 turns analog switches AS2 and AS4 "on" andswitches AS1, AS3 and AS5 "off" to supply resistors R1, R3 and R5 withcurrent from constant current source CI1 and also supply resistors R6 toR9 and R14 with a current whereby exposure control circuit 63 is fedwith an analog signal corresponding to SV=51/3+3=81/3. Exposure controlcircuit 63 is also fed with a signal from light measuring circuit 62 andmakes an exposure calculation and exposure control with the fed signals.In the above process, when the output at terminal a4 corresponding to adigital logic value "1", resistor R1 with the weight of four is madeeffective, and in the same manner when the output at terminal a3 islogic "1", resistor R2 with the weight of two is made effective, whenthe output at terminal a2 is logic "1", resistor R3 with the weight ofone is made effective, when the output at terminal a1 is logic "1",resistor R4 with the weight of two thirds is made effective, and whenthe output at terminal a0 is logic "1", resistor R5 with the weight ofone third is made effective.

Circuit 60 is for manual setting of the exposure compensation.Indication device DI2 displays one of "+2.0", "+1.5", "+1.0", "+0.5","0", "-0.5", "-1.0", "-1.5" and "-2.0" in accordance with the datasignal from output terminals b3 to b0. Decoder DE1 generates outputsignals for turning analog switches AS6 to AS13 "on" or "off" inresponse to the data signal from terminals b3 to b0.

Table 2 shows the interrelationship between the input signals to decoderDE1 and the "on" or "off" state of analog switches AS9 to AS3.

                                      TABLE 2                                     __________________________________________________________________________    Amount of                                                                     Compensation                                                                         b3                                                                              b2                                                                              b1                                                                              b0                                                                              AS6                                                                              AS7                                                                              AS8                                                                              AS9                                                                              AS10                                                                              AS11                                                                              AS12                                                                              AS13                                   __________________________________________________________________________    +2.0   1 0 0 1 ON ON ON ON ON  ON  ON  ON                                     +1.5   1 0 0 0 OFF                                                                              ON ON ON ON  ON  ON  ON                                     +1.0   0 1 1 1 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              ON ON ON  ON  ON  ON                                     +0.5   0 1 1 0 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              ON ON  ON  ON  ON                                      0     0 1 0 1 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              ON  ON  ON  ON                                     -0.5   0 1 0 0 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF ON  ON  ON                                     -1.0   0 0 1 1 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF OFF ON  ON                                     -1.5   0 0 1 0 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF OFF OFF ON                                     -2.0   0 0 0 1 OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF                                                                              OFF OFF OFF OFF                                    __________________________________________________________________________

The resistance values of resistors R6 to R13 respectively correspond toSV=1/2 and the resistance value of resistor R14 corresponds to SV=1.Accordingly, if the value of the exposure compensation is +2.0, all theanalog switches AS6 to AS13 are turned "on" to supply the current fromconstant current source CI1 only to resistor R14 whereby a signalcorresponding to SV=1 is generated at the node between resistors R5 andR6 thereby enabling photography with the exposure being compensated by+2.0 EV. When the exposure compensation is not effected, i.e. when theamount of the exposure compensation is "0", analog switches AS10 to AS13are turned "on" to supply current to R9 and R14 thereby generating asignal corresponding to SV=3 at the node between resistors R5 and R6,resulting in photography with a normal or standard exposure. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the photographs with exposurecompensations of other values may be made in accordance with therelationships shown in Table 2. Thus, description thereof is omittedhere.

When the conventional encoding as shown in FIG. 2 is employed, all theencoded portions 2 to 6 must be insulated for ASA 25 so that twoterminals S1 and S10 to be in contact with encoded portion 1 arerequired as shown in FIG. 6 for the distinction between the cartridgewith a film sensitivity data and the cartridge without such data,resulting in inconvenience in term of the space for the two terminals.Accordingly, an improvement of the encoding of FIG. 2 is proposed inFIG. 7 wherein both encoded portions 5 and 6 in FIG. 2 are madeconductive for ASA 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200. FIG. 8shows a circuit for reading out the data of a film sensitivity from thefilm cartridge with such coding.

With reference to FIG. 8, if the camera is loaded with a film cartridgehaving a film sensitivity data encoded in the manner described above, atleast one of encoded portions 5 or 6 is conductive by the exposure ofconductive plate 65 for any of the film sensitivity 25 to 3200 and atleast one of inverters IN0 and IN1 generates a "High" level signal.Accordingly, OR circuit OR1 generates a high-level signal, which servesas the signal for indicating that the film cartridge loaded has a filmsensitivity data. When both inverters IN1 and IN0 generate "High" levelsignals, the output of NAND circuit NA1 become "Low" and the bothoutputs of AND circuit AN3 and AN4 become "Low".

If either one of the outputs of inverter IN1 or IN0 is low, the outputof NAND circuit NA1 is high and AND circuits AN4 and AN3 generatesignals that are the same as those of inverter IN1 and IN0. Accordingly,data that is the same as those from inverter IN4 to IN0 of FIG. 6 can beobtained from inverters IN4 to IN0 and AND circuit AN4 and AN3 of FIG.8. Thus, the improved encoding according to the above proposal incombination with the FIG. 8 circuit not only provides the same functionas that of the FIG. 6 circuit and its associated encoding, but alsoeliminates the necessity of terminal S10 for the detection whether afilm cartridge has a film sensitivity data or not.

In another improvement of encoding shown in FIG. 9(a), both encodedportions 5 and 6 are made conductive only for ASA 25, while the encodingfor other sensitivities is the same as the conventional one shown inFIG. 2. FIG. 10 shows a circuit for reading out a film sensitivity datafrom a film cartridge with such coding.

If conductive plate 65 is exposed at encoded portions 5 and 6 in FIG.10, output of NAND circuit NA1 is Low and the outputs of AND circuitsAN3 and AN4 are both "Low". In contrast thereto, for all the filmsensitivities other than ASA 25, both outputs of inverters IN1 and IN0can not be "High", whereby the output of NAND circuit NA1 is always"High" and AND circuits AN4 and AN3 generate the same outputs as thoseof inverter IN1 and IN0 exactly in their states. Additionally, when thecamera is loaded with a film cartridge with a film sensitivity dataencoded in the manner described above, at least one of inverters IN4 toIN0 generates a "High" level signal to make the output of OR circuit OR2"High", which is utilized to show the automatic setting of the filmsensitivity.

As still another improvement of encoding, the coding shown in FIG. 2 maybe shifted by 1/3 step as shown in FIGS. 9(b) and 9(c) are necessaryfrom terminals S2 to S6. With this coding, only terminals S1 to S6 aregenerated digital signals of, for example, "00001" for ASA 25, "00010"for ASA 32, "10001" for ASA 400 and "11101" for ASA 3200 wherein thedigital values are arranged in the order from the bits with biggerweight to the bits with lighter weight as in the same manner as Table 1and the first bit of the digital signals corresponds to terminal S4, thesecond bit to terminal S3, the third bit to terminal S2, the fourth bitto terminal S6 and the fifth bit to terminal S5. This can be done bymaking the resistance value of resistor R14 correspond to SV=2/3. Asanother arrangement, the conductive and non-conductive states at encodedportions 2 to 6 may be inverted by substituting the conductive portionsby non-conductive portions and vice versa, with terminals S2 to S6directly connected to selector SE1 without interposition of invertersIN4 to IN06. With this arrangement, whether a film sensitivity has beenautomatically set or not, can be detected by the OR output of five-bitsignals from encoded portions 2 to 6.

Indication devices DI1, DI2 and DI3 should preferably employ respectivecircuits for dynamic display by liquid crystal. Additionally, thosedevices should preferably be disposed at the position where a manualfilm sensitivity setting device was disposed in conventional cameras.Manual setting devices 60 and 61 should desirably include setting meansconsisting of push buttons or slide switches.

A further improvement of the coding is shown in FIG. 11 in which thecoding shown in FIG. 2 is shifted by 1 step. FIG. 12 shows a cameracircuit adapted for use with film cartridges having film speed data inthe form of encoded patterns shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 12, the circuitelements which are the same as or similar to those in FIGS. 6, 8 and 10are denoted by the same reference letters and numerals and exposurecontrol circuit 65 is designed as a digital circuit. As it is usual fordigital calculations to put weights of 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 on decimal orfractional bits, the circuit shown in FIG. 12 is provided with a circuitfor converting the data with the weights of 1/3 and 2/3 to data with theweights of 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8.

When a camera is loaded with a film cartridge having film datarepresented by one of the encoded patterns shown in FIG. 11, terminalS1, and at least one of terminals S2 through S6 conduct to render theoutput of OR circuit OR2 "High", whereby the digital signal frominverters IN0 through IN4 is generated from terminals a4 to a0 of dataselector SE1 while indication device DI0 indicates that the film speedis automatically set. The weights of 1/3 and 2/3 appear on terminals a0and a1 of data selector SE1 respectively and the weights of 1/8, 1/4 and1/2 appear on terminals d0 of OR circuit OR3, terminal d1 of OR circuitOR4 and terminal d2 of OR circuit OR5 respectively. When the data withthe weight of 1/3 is read out, i.e., when the output of terminal a0becomes "High" with the output of terminal al being "Low", OR circuitsOR3 and OR4 and AND circuit AN6 generate a "High" output respectivelysince the output of inverter IN17 becomes high. Thus, an approximationof

    1/3≈1/4+1/8

is effected to make terminals d1 and d0 "High". When the data with theweight of 2/3 is read out, i.e., when the output of terminal a1 becomes"High" with the output of terminal a0 being "Low", inverter IN16generates a "High" output, so that AND circuit AN5 and OR circuits OR3and OR5 generate a "High" output respectively. Thus an approximation of

    2/3≈1/2+1/8

is effected to make terminals d2 and d0 "High".

On the other hand, in the case of the film speeds whose Sv values haveno decimal values, both of the outputs of terminals a0 and a1 become"low" to make all terminals d0, d1 and d2 "Low". Except, however, in thecase of ASA 3200 both of the outputs of terminals a0 and a1 become"High" so that OR circuits OR3 through OR5 and AND circuit AN7 generatea "High" output respectively. Thus in this case an approximation of

    1≈1/8+1/4+1/2=7/8

is effected to make all terminals d0, d1 and d2 "High".

Exposure control circuit 65 and indication device DI1 receive theoutputs of terminals a4, a3 and a2 of data selector SE1 and those ofterminals d2, d1 and d0 of OR circuits OR5, OR4 and OR3, for makingdigital calculations.

Meanwhile, with the coding shown in FIG. 11 and the circuit shown inFIG. 12, exposure control circuit 65 receives digital signals withvalues of 1 and 2 when Sv values are 3 and 4, respectively. Theoccurrence of such a difference is of no significance but, if the valuesshould coincide, an appropriate addition circuit may be provided whichadds a signal of value 2 to the signals to be received by exposurecontrol circuit 65. Alternatively, exposure control circuit 65 mayinclude an appropriate addition circuit section which adds a signal ofvalue 2 to the signals received thereby.

Another camera circuit adapted for use with film cartridges having filmdata in the form of the encoded patterns shown in FIG. 2 is shown inFIG. 13. This circuit sets three kinds of film speed ranges, i.e., a lowfilm speed range for ASA 25-80, a middle film speed range for ASA100-320 and a high film speed range for ASA 400-3200. As is apparentfrom FIG. 2, areas 3 and 4 are non-conductive with cartridges having afilm of the low film speed range, area 3 is conductive but area 4 isnon-conductive with cartridges having a film of the middle film speedrange, and area 4 is conductive with cartridges having a film of thehigh film speed range.

In the FIG. 13 circuit, only terminals S1, S3 S4 and S10 are provided,and the output of inverter IN4 and thus the output of OR circuit OR11become "High" for a film speed within the high film speed range. For afilm speed within the middle film speed range, the outputs of invertersIN3 and IN4 become "High" and "Low" respectively. Inverter IN20generates a "High" output with the output of inverter IN4 being "Low",causing AND circuit AN10 and OR circuit OR12 to generate a "High" outputrespectively. Moreover, for a film speed within the low film speedrange, both of the outputs of inverters IN3 and IN4 become "Low" andthus NOR circuit NO1 generates a "High" output. In this case, ANDcircuit AN11 generates a "High" output causing the output of OR circuitOR13 to be "High" since terminals S1 and S10 conduct through conductivearea 1 to enable AND circuit AN11.

When the camera is loaded with a film cartridge having no information offilm sensitivity, all outputs of inverters IN3, IN4 and IN9 become"Low". In this case, inverter IN23 generates a "High" output, enablingAND circuits AN12, AN13 and AN14 so that signals of manually set filmspeeds can be generated from OR circuits OR11 through OR13. Moreparticularly, when a film speed within the high film speed range ismanually set, switches SW5 and SW7 are closed and opened respectively,causing inverter IN21, and circuit AN12 and accordingly OR circuit OR11to generate a "High" output respectively. When a film speed within themiddle film speed range is manually set, switches SW5 and SW7 are openedand closed respectively, causing inverter IN22, AND circuit AN13 andaccordingly OR circuit OR12 to generate a "High" output respectively.When a film speed within the low film speed range is manually set, bothswitches SW5 and SW7 are opened causing the outputs of inverters IN21and IN22 to be "Low". In this case, the output of NOR circuit NO2becomes "High" so that AND circuit AN14 and accordingly OR circuit OR13generate a "High" output respectively. The outputs of OR circuits OR11through OR13 are fed to indication device DI1 which then indicates themanually set film speed. Meanwhile, indication device DI0 indicateswhether the film speed setting is automatically or manually effected. Inthis connection, it should be understood that a "High" output is alwaysgenerated from inverter IN9 when the camera is loaded with a filmcartridge having any one of encoded patterns shown in FIG. 2.

The outputs of the OR circuits OR11 through OR13 are also fed to thegate terminals of FETs (field effect transistor) FT1, FT2 and FT3respectively. With a film speed within the high film speed range,detected or manually set, FET, FT1 is made conductive receiving the"High" output from OR circuit OR11 and a voltage determined by resistorsR21 and R22 is applied to the negative input terminal of comparator AC.The resistance value of resistor R22 corresponds to ASA 400 for example.With a film speed within the middle film speed range detected ormanually set, FET FT2 is made conductive receiving the "High" outputfrom OR circuit OR12 and a current flow through resistors R21 and R23.The resistance value of resistor R23 corresponds to ASA 200 for exampleand the voltage determined by this resistor is applied to the negativeinput terminal of comparator AC. Similarly, a current flows throughresistors R21 and R24 with FET FT3 made conductive when the detected ormanually set film sensitivity is within the low film speed range. Theresistance value of resistor R24 corresponds to ASA 50 for example and avoltage determined by this resistance is applied to the negative inputterminal of comparator AC.

When switch SW0 is closed in association with depression of a camerarelease button (not shown), electric power is supplied to an exposurecontrol circuit including photoconductive element VR such as CdS,capacitor C0, switch SW9, comparator AC and electromagnet Mg. Switch SW9is opened upon initiation of shutter opening and closed upon completionof shutter closing. When the camera release button is depressed, switchSW0 is first closed, causing comparator AC to generate a "Low" outputand thereby energizing electromagnet Mg which then arrests a shutterclosing member (not shown). Thereafter, shutter opening starts andswitch SW9 is opened so that capacitor C0 is charged by a currentcommensurate with the resistance value of photoconductive element (VR),i.e., the scene brightness. When the voltage across capacitor C0 reachesthe voltage potential determined by one of resistors R22 through R24,the output of comparator AC is inverted from "Low" to "High" andelectromagnet Mg is deenergized to allow shutter closing.

Another circuit adapted for use with a film cartridge having film speeddata in the form of encoded patterns shown in FIG. 11 is shown in FIG.14. This circuit sets four kinds of film speeds, i.e., ASA 32 for ASA 25through ASA 40, ASA 64 for ASA 50 through ASA 80, ASA 125 for ASA 100through ASA 160 and ASA 250 for ASA 200 through ASA 3200. With thecoding shown in FIG. 11, at least one of areas 2 through 4 is conductiveas is area 1. Hence OR circuit OR2 generates a "High" output and thesignals from inverters IN2 through IN4 are generated from terminals a2,a3 and a4 of data selector SE1 respectively when the camera is loadedwith a film cartridge having one of the encoded patterns shown in FIG.11. In contrast thereto, if the camera is loaded with a film cartridgehaving no encoded pattern, the output of OR circuit OR2 becomes "Low"and signals from inverters IN32 through IN34, which correspond tomanually set film speeds, are generated from terminals a2, a3 and a4 ofdata selector SE1. Switches SW12 through SW14 are closed and opened by amanual film speed setting member (not shown) and the closing and openingof these switches correspond to the coding of FIG. 11. Moreparticularly, switch SW12 alone is closed for ASA 32, switch SW13 aloneis closed for ASA 64, switches SW12 and SW13 are closed for ASA 125 andswitch SW14 alone is closed for ASA 250.

With ASA 32 manually set, only the output of terminal a2 becomes "High"and AND circuit A21 generates a "High" output b1 making FET FT11conductive so that resistor R31 corresponding to ASA 32 is madeeffective. Similarly, with ASA 64 manually set, only the output ofterminal a3 becomes "High". This causes AND circuit AN22 to generate a"High" output b2, whereby FET FT12 conducts so that resistor R32corresponding to ASA 64 is made effective. However, with ASA 125manually set, the outputs of terminals a2 and a3 become high and ANDcircuit AN23 generates a "High" output b3 making FET FT13 conductive sothat resistor R33 corresponding to ASA 125 is made effective. Moreover,with ASA 250 manually set, the output of terminal a4 becomes "High"rendering FET FT 14 conductive so that resistor R34 corresponding to ASA250 is made effective.

FIG. 15 shows the appearance of the end of leader portion of a filmaccording to the present invention for which the film is adapted for acamera designed to read (or detect) data on the film, such as a filmsensitivity, by means of a film take-up spool. On both sides of film Fare formed sprocket holes PH as is well-known in the art. Encodedportions SH1 to SH5 are perforated or unperforated to represent a filmsensitivity by the digital code. The positions of encoded portions SH1to SH6 along the length of the film is determined with reference to apredetermined sprocket hole. It is preferable that five encoded portionsare formed between the first and second sprocket holes PH with the codedperforations being elliptical. In the embodiment shown, encoded portionsSH1 and SH3 are perforated to represent a digitally coded value "10100"corresponding to a certain film sensitivity value.

FIG. 16 shows, in perspective view, an embodiment of a film take-upspool according to the present invention, which is adapted for use withthe film shown in FIG. 15. At the lower portion of spool body 80 isformed pawl 81 that engages the first sprocket hole PH. Contacts S1 andS5 corresponding to encoded portions SH1 to SH5 are provided on spoolbody 80. A pair of flaps 82 are pivotable about their one end that isconnected to the spool body, and are urged by springs to their openpositions. Flaps 82 are made of electrically conductive material and arerespectively grounded. Slider contacts or brushes 85, 84 and 83 arerespectively in contact with power supply terminal 88, ground terminal86 and output terminal 87 for outputting an analog signal commensuratewith the data read from the film. Flaps 82 are respectively formed witha cut-out at the position to be engaged by pawl 81 when the flaps turnto their closing position. Thus, pawl 81 engages into the cut-outs toensure the close contact between electrically conductive flaps 82 andany of the contacts SW1 to SW5 projecting through code perforations whenthe film is wound around spool body 80.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the spool of FIG. 16 forshowing its film signal detecting portion. As shown in the Figure, flaps82 are provided as a pair as shown by 82a and 82b and contacts SW1 toSW5 are also provided in two sets as shown by SWa and SWb. When film Fis not wound around the spool, flaps 82a and 82b are open as shown bythe phantom line. When spool 80 has been turned by one rotation i.e.360° with the first sprocket hole PH of film F being engaged by pawl 81of spool 80, flaps 82a and 82b are forced (or pressed) down by film Fand closed as shown by a solid line. At this time, if any of encodedportions SH1 to SH5 of film F are perforated, the corresponding contactsof the set of contacts SWb project through the perforations into contactwith flap 82b and close the contacts. If no perforation is formed at theencoded portions, electric connection will not be formed because film Fis made of an insulating material. The conduction and non-conductionsignals, i.e. on and off signals of respective contacts, are processedby the circuit shown in FIG. 6 and the output of the circuit istransmitted through out-put terminals 86 to 88 and slider contacts 83 to85 to the circuit in the camera, which utilizes the output for exposurecontrol, presetting of a film counter, and so on.

FIG. 18 is a plane view showing the appearance of the end of the leadingportion of another film adapted for a camera of the type in which thefilm take-up spool reads the information recorded on the film. The filmis formed with sprocket holes PH along its upper and lower longitudinaledges. The film is formed with a cut-out SN representing a filmsensitivity value. The cut-out SN has a depth from the upper edge, i.e.on the nonperforated side of the film leader portion, that is determinedin dependence on the film sensitivity value, whereby the cut-outfunctions as a signal source.

FIG. 19 shows a spool provided with a read-out mechanism which reads outthe depth SN of the cut-out formed on a film F shown in FIG. 18. Whenfilm F is wound around the spool with the initial perforation engaged bypawl 81, flap 82 is closed so that resistor band 157 is bought intopressure contact on elastic electrode 159. As film F is sandwitched byresistor band 157 and elastic electrode 159 at this time, electriccontact is effected between the resistor band and the elastic electrodeby the depth SN of the cut-out of the film. As a consequence, theresistance of resistor band 159 corresponding to the depth SN is appliedto an exposure control circuit through terminals 150 and 153 asinformation of film speed of the film.

FIG. 21 shows the appearance of the film according to a still furtherembodiment of the present invention. The film is adapted for use in acamera that automatically controls exposure in accordance with detectionof film sensitivity frame by frame. Besides sprocket holes PH at bothsides, the film is provided with a film positioning hole IH, one foreach frame, which is utilized for the positioning of the film relativeto the exposure aperture of the camera, and which may preferrably have ashape different from signal perforations SH that represent a filmsensitivity value by a digital code. The portions between adjacentsprocket holes PH, i.e. the portions indicated by small circles of abroken line, may be perforated or left unperforated to represent a filmsensitivity value in a digital form by means of a digital code. Thisdigitally coded signal is formed at each frame portion. This arrangementenables obtainment of film sensitivity data at any time without havingto store or memorize it.

With reference to FIG. 22 showing fragmentarily the essential portion ofa camera according to the present invention adapted for use with thefilm shown in FIG. 21, at the rear surface of the camera body areprovided positioning hole detecting pin IHs corresponding to positioninghole IH and signal perforation detecting pins SHs corresponding tosignal perforations. As in conventional cameras, the camera rear surfaceis formed with a frame for exposure aperture 121, film guide rails 122for restricting the vertical position of the film while it istransported laterally, and film abutting surfaces 123 for positioningthe light sensitive plane of the film at the focal plane of the cameraobjective lens (not shown).

FIG. 23 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a switch mechanismoperated by positioning hole detecting pin IHs. Reference numeral 131designates a camera body, 132 a film pressure plate, F a film and 133 aconductive piece. Resilient contact piece 134 is moved by positioninghole detecting pin IHs in the upward and downward direction in the planeof the drawing to generate a signal in dependence on whether it is incontact with a conductive piece or not. When the film shown in FIG. 21is loaded, positioning hole detecting pin IHs moves to the positionshown by a solid line to bring conductive piece 133 into contact withresilient contact piece 134 and turn on the switch only wherepositioning hole IH comes into alignment with pin IHs, because pin IHsis configured not to enter signal perforation SH with its end, and isdisposed at a position where it can not align with sprocket holes PH inthe vertical position.

FIG. 24 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a switch mechanism to beoperated by signal perforation detecting pin SHs. Reference numeral 131designates a camera body, 132 a film pressure plate and 135 a conductivepiece. Contact piece 136 is in contact with or disengaged fromconductive piece 135 to turn on or off the switch in response to theposition of signal perforation detecting pin SHs. When an encodedportion is perforated with the portion aligning with pin SHs, the end ofpin SHs enters signal perforation SH, as shown by a solid line in FIG.24, to bring contact piece 136 into contact with conductive piece 135 toturn on the switch. When the encoded portion is not perforated, the endof signal perforation detecting pin SHs is pushed by the film plane topush contact piece 136 upwards and disengage it from conductive piece135 to turn off the switch. The switch mechanism shown in FIG. 23 so asto be operated by positioning hole detecting pin IHs, may be utilizedfor providing a signal for stopping film wind-up operation when themechanism is provided in a camera that has a motor driven film wind-updevice. In the present invention, the signal generated by the switchmechanism is utilized for initiating reading-out operation of a read-outcircuit which detects the signals derived from signal perforations SH.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that althoughmechanically operated switch mechanisms have been described withreference to FIGS. 22 to 24, they can be substituted by other types ofswitch mechanisms, such as an electric switch mechanism including a pairof contacts interposed by the film, or a photoelectric switch mechanismincluding a light source and a photocell arranged to receive the lightthrough the hole or perforation.

What is claimed is:
 1. Camera apparatus for use with a film cartridgeformed with five first areas and a second area, said first area havingweights of 4, 2, 1, 2/3 and 1/3, respectively, and being conductive andnon-conductive with said second area in dependence upon the APEX valueSv of film speed of a film contained in said film cartridge, said cameraapparatus comprising:means for detecting said first areas which areconductive with said second area; means for calculating the summation ofthe weights of the first areas detected by said detecting means andadding a predetermined constant value to the summation to generate afirst signal directly indicative of the APEX value of the film speedrepresented by said first areas; circuit means for receiving said firstsignal; and means for generating a second signal indicative of aparticular film speed; means for determining whether none of, or atleast one of, said first areas is conductive with said second area; anda selector for feeding said first signal to said circuit means when itis determined by said determining means that at least one of said firstareas is conductive with said second area and feeding said second signalto said circuit means when it is determined by said determining meansthat none of said first areas is conductive with said second area. 2.Camera apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said second signalgenerating means includes means for manually setting said particularfilm speed.
 3. Camera apparatus for use with a film cartridge formedwith five first areas and a second area, said first areas having weightsof 4, 2, 1, 2/3 and 1/3, respectively, and being conductive andnon-conductive with said second area in dependence upon the APEX valueSv of film speed of a film contained in said film cartridge, said cameraapparatus comprising:means for detecting said first areas which areconductive with said second area; means for calculating the summation ofthe weights of the first areas detected by said detecting means andadding a predetermined constant value to the summation to generate afirst signal directly indicative of the APEX value of the film speedrepresented by said first areas; circuit means for receiving said firstsignal; means for generating a second signal indicative of a particularfilm speed; means for determining whether none of, or at least one of,said first areas with weights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductive with saidsecond area; a selector for feeding said first signal to said circuitmeans when it is determined by said determining means that at least oneof said first areas with weights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductive with saidsecond area and feeding said second signal to said circuit means when itis determined by said determining means that none of said first areaswith weights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductive with said second area. 4.Camera apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said second signalgenerating means includes means for manually setting said particularfilm speed.
 5. In a camera for use with a film cartridge having fivefirst areas which correspond to bits of digital codes representing APEXvalues Sv of film speeds, three of said first areas having weights of 4,2 and 1 respectively, whereas the remaining two of said first areashaving weights of 2/3 and 1/3 respectively, and at least one of said twofirst areas with weights of 2/3 and 1/3 being conductive with a secondarea adjacent to said five first areas for all film speeds of availablefilm, a code detection device comprising:means for reading the digitalcode on said five first areas to generate a first signal indicative ofthe film speed represented by said digital code; means for generating asecond signal indicative of a particular film speed; means fordetermining whether none of, or at least one of, said first areas withweights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductive with said second area; selectormeans for allowing passage of said first signal when it is determined bysaid determining means that at least one of said first areas withweights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductive with said second area and allowingpassage of said second signal when it is determined by said determiningmeans that none of first areas with weights of 2/3 and 1/3 is conductivewith said second area; and circuit means for receiving either one ofsaid first and second signals from said selector means.
 6. A codedetection device as defined in claim 5, wherein said second signalgenerating means includes means for manually setting said particularfilm speed.
 7. A code detection device as defined in claim 5, whereinsaid circuit means includes exposure control means for controlling anexposure in accordance with either one of said first and second signalsfrom said selector means.
 8. A code detection device as defined in claim5, wherein said circuit means includes means for indicating film speedin accordance with either one of said first and second signals from saidselector means.
 9. A code detection device as defined in claim 5,further comprising means for indicating the result of the determinationby said determining means so that it can be determined which of saidfirst and second signals is allowed to pass through said selector means.10. In a camera adapted to receive a film cartridge having a pluralityof first areas which correspond to bits of digital codes representingAPEX values Sv of film speeds and which are selectively conductive andnon-conductive with a second area in dependence upon the APEX value ofSv of film speed of a film contained in said film cartridge, a codedetection device comprising:means for determining whether at least twoof said first areas corresponding to predetermined bits of said digitalcodes are conductive or non-conductive with said second area, with saidfilm cartridge received in said camera; means responsive to thedetermination by said determining means for generating a signal ofpredetermined film speed which is representative of one of the filmspeed ranges within which the film speed of the film contained in saidfilm cartridge received in said camera resides; circuit means forreceiving said signal of predetermined film speed; and said signalgenerating means includes: first means responsive to the determinationby said determining means for generating a signal of one of the filmspeed ranges within which the film speed of the film contained in saidfilm cartridge received in said camera resides; and second means forgenerating said signal of said predetermined film speed in accordancewith said signal of the film speed range.
 11. A code detection device asdefined in claim 10, wherein said determining means is adapted togenerate a digital signal which varies with the conduction andnon-conduction of said at least two said first areas with said secondarea.
 12. A code detection device as defined in claim 11, wherein saidfirst means includes decoder means for converting said digital signalfrom said determining means into said signal of the film speed rangewhich is in the form of a digital signal, and said second means includesa digital-to-analog converter for converting said signal of the filmspeed range into an analog signal, which is said signal of thepredetermined film speed.
 13. In a camera adapted for use with a filmcartridge having five first areas with weights of 4, 2, 1, 2/3 and 1/3respectively, and a second area, said first areas being conductive ornon-conductive in accordance with the APEX value Sv of film speed of afilm contained in said film cartridge, a code detection devicecomprising:means for determining whether at least two of said firstareas with weights of 4, 2 and 1 are conductive or non-conductive withsaid second area, with said film cartridge received in said camera;means responsive to the determination by said determining means forgenerating a signal of predetermined film speed representative of one ofthe film speed ranges within which the film speed of the film containedin said film cartridge resides; and circuit means for receiving saidsignal of predetermined film speed; and said signal generating meansincludes: first means for selectively generating one of a number ofpredetermined digital signals in accordance with the determination bysaid determining means; and second means for generating said signal ofpredetermined film speed in accordance with the digital signal from saidfirst means.
 14. A code detection device as defined in claim 13, whereinsaid signal generating means includes:first means for selectivelygenerating one of a number of predetermined digital signals inaccordance with the determination by said determining means; and secondmeans for generating said signal of predetermined film speed inaccordance with the digital signal from said first means.
 15. A codedetection device as defined in claim 13, wherein said signal generatingmeans includes:first means for selectively generating one of a number ofpredetermined digital signals in accordance with the determination bysaid determining means; and second means for generating said signal ofpredetermined film speed in accordance with the digital signal from saidfirst means.
 16. A series of film cartridges for films of various filmspeeds, each film cartridge of said series comprising:a housingcontaining one of said films and having on its outer peripheral wallfirst to sixth areas which extend perpendicular to the direction inwhich the film is pulled out of said film cartridge; a digital codepattern provided on said second to sixth areas such that said second tosixth areas correspond to the bits of said digital code, respectively,said second to sixth areas having weights of 1, 2, 4, 1/3 and 2/3 interms of the APEX value Sv, respectively; and means for selectivelymaking said second to sixth areas conductive and non-conductive withsaid first area in accordance with the APEX value of the film speed ofthe film contained in said housing, to allow detection of said second tosixth areas being conductive with said first area from the exterior ofsaid film cartridge, at least one of said fifth and sixth areas beingconductive with said first area for every film speed of said series offilm cartridges, whereby conduction of at least one of said fifth andsixth areas with said first area is the indication of the film cartridgeof said series.
 17. A series of film cartridges as defined in claim 16,wherein said means for selectively making includes a conductive memberextending over said first through sixth areas and one or moreelectrically insulative layers selectively disposed on said second tosixth areas to make one or more of said second to sixth areasnon-conductive with said first area in accordance with the APEX value Svof the film speed of the film contained in said housing.